Frozen
by MonkeyMojo
Summary: Puck and Kurt find something laying on a frozen pond one night and, worried it might be an animal, Kurt wants to go get it. Despite Puck's protests Kurt ends up in a dangerous position on the middle of the lake. Puckurt, slightly AU; no Blaine. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

"What time will you boys be home?" Burt asked from the living room entryway as Puck helped Kurt into his winter coat.

"We shouldn't be too late, Dad, we're just going to dinner," Kurt replied.

Puck nodded and added, "Maybe two hours, tops. I mean, we might get, like, coffee or something after, but the restaurant's not that far away."

Burt grunted. "Just get Kurt home by midnight, got it?" he said as he walked back to his recliner.

Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed his scarf as Puck agreed, and they finally left. They climbed into Puck's truck and headed onto the snow covered street. Kurt felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and slid it out, huffing in exasperation as he read his father's attempt at a text: _y9ou got yourp phoneright?_

Puck snorted and then raised his arm to deflect Kurt's playful swat. "Your dad's, like, the most overprotective dude I've ever seen."

"Laugh now, you'll cower in his presence like always when we get back home," Kurt said as he sent a message back to his father.

"Dude, I do not cower."

"_Dude_, yes you do. You nearly wet yourself when I brought you home to tell him we're dating. He hadn't even said anything yet and you looked like you were going to cry!"

"What the fuck ever," Puck muttered, which just sent Kurt into a laughing fit. He still hadn't stopped pouting when they pulled into the restaurant parking lot, so Kurt leaned over and kissed his cheek, laughing again when Puck took that as an opportunity to pull him closer by his scarf and press a slow, heated kiss to his lips.

"Come on, macho man, you don't want to get me home too late, do you?" Kurt teased. They quickly and reluctantly slid out of the warm truck and into the cold night air, Kurt squealing when Puck pulled him backwards and slapped his ass. Puck wrapped his arm around him as they calmed and, still laughing quietly, walked into the restaurant.

* * *

><p>They left the building nearly an hour later, warm and happy.<p>

"Let's take a walk and get some hot chocolate," Kurt suggested as he laced their fingers together and guided them along the sidewalk towards the row of little shops down the street.

"It's freezing out! When I said we might get coffee after dinner, I kinda meant we'd drive somewhere," Puck complained.

"Don't be such a baby, Noah, it's beautiful out. Look at all the stars; usually you can't see so many this far into the city."

"You can see stars from inside the truck," he grumbled.

"We're almost there, you can warm up in the shop," Kurt said. They walked down the quiet street, making new footprints in the snow. Puck amused himself by watching their frozen breaths drift through the air, and Kurt estimated about thirty seconds until he'd get bored enough to either start whining or groping him.

When they walked past a gap in the shops that showed a view of the park behind them, Puck pulled them to a stop. "Look, Kurt, the pond froze. I didn't think it was cold enough yet." It was a large pond, and behind it was a small wooded area hiding the highway, and a good distance away were some swings.

"You were just complaining about—Wait, do you see that?" Kurt asked, pulling them towards the park rather than the shops.

"See what? What happened to getting warm?"

"Just a minute, look on the pond, Puck, there's something there. I think…" Kurt paused as they got closer, "I think it might be an animal."

Puck squinted and shook his head. "It's not moving, probably just someone's scarf or something, let's go."

"No, what if it's a cat, or a puppy or something?"

"Or a raccoon waiting for you to get close enough before it—" he leaped at Kurt, startling him, "scratches your eyes out!" Kurt laughed and smacked his chest, still stubbornly pulling them closer to the pond. Puck sighed, knowing it was a lost cause when Kurt got himself worked up. "Look, we'll just get close enough to see what it is, alright? It's too far out to actually get to it."

Kurt hummed distractedly, trying to make out what exactly was lying on the icy pond surface. When they got right up to the pond's edge, he still couldn't tell what it was. He started to walk further but Puck pulled him back sharply.

"What the hell are you doing, Kurt? You can't just go walking on ponds."

"Oh come on, they're going to open it up in a few weeks for kids to skate on, what's the harm?"

"No. There's a reason they're waiting a few weeks. It might not be hard enough yet."

Kurt looked almost ready to give in, but he suddenly exclaimed, "It moved!"

"What?" Puck squinted through the darkness. "It did not, it was probably the wind, which, might I remind you, is_ freezing_."

"Puck, we cannot leave a poor defenseless animal out here in the cold!" Kurt yelled.

"I'm telling you, man, it's a scarf or something. Let's just go. Come on, we can warm up together in the truck," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kurt wasn't paying attention though. He turned to Puck with a desperate look on his face and shuffled closer to him, taking the front of Puck's jacket in his hands. He pleaded, "Please, Noah, maybe it is just a scarf, but what if it's not? Please? I'll go, I'm lighter, and if it feels too thin I'll come right back. Look, it's closer to us than it is to the middle. It's got to be hard enough; they're opening it to the public soon. It'll just take a second, and then we can go back to the truck and I'll… thank you." He whispered the last part close to Puck's lips, and then closed the gap. They kissed slowly for a moment, then separated.

Puck blinked when Kurt pulled back and said, "If you feel even a tiny bit like it might crack, get your ass back here. I mean it, Kurt. It would be damn hard to explain to your dad that you fell into a freaking pond on our date."

"Don't be so dramatic. It's not even really that far out," Kurt said as he placed his foot onto the ice.

Puck held his breath as Kurt slowly made his way towards the lump on the ice. He cursed when Kurt nearly slipped and almost told him to turn around and come back, but by the time he opened his mouth Kurt was more than halfway there, so he just waited, the short walk seeming to take forever with Kurt's tiny, hesitant steps.

Kurt reached the object and poked at it with his foot, then carefully crouched down. He picked it up, stood, and turned around. "You were right!" he called out. "It's someone's jacket! It must have blown over here from the playground."

"Or some kid was as stupid as we are. Come back now, you're gonna give me a heart attack."

"Yeah, yeah," Kurt said, beginning the trek back, jacket in hand. He froze as a creak was heard from below him.

"Shit, Kurt, don't—"

Kurt made a scared sound and looked towards Puck.

"Don't move, Kurt."

"Puck, I'm scared," Kurt blurted quickly. He was still locked in fear, his breaths coming out quick and short. Neither of them had actually thought the pond would be too weak, and the reality that it might be was terrifying them both.

"Just stay still, Kurt, hold on," Puck called, not sure what to do. He looked around, but the park was still deserted.

"M-maybe if I just—" Kurt shuffled forward a tiny bit and another long creak filled the air, louder this time. He stopped abruptly and there was a sound like a gunshot. Kurt let out a desperate sob when he looked down to see a large crack in the ice, right below where he was standing.

"Oh God, Kurt, don't move!"

"What do I do then?" Kurt cried almost hysterically. "Get me off, Puck, get me off!"

Puck took a deep breath to calm himself down and looked at the distance between them. "Okay, Kurt, it's okay. I think… I think you're close enough that if I go out a little, and you come to me a little, we can grab hands and I'll pull you back, okay?"

Kurt nodded shakily. They both reached out and inched towards each other, already close. Puck took a step onto the ice and Kurt slid his foot a little further. Their fingers brushed at the same moment a deafening crack was heard, and Kurt screamed as he fell.


	2. Chapter 2

Puck managed to grab hold of Kurt's fingers with one hand, but the other slipped through his grasp. He was dragged to his knees as Kurt plunged into the icy water, his screams muffled then silenced as he was pulled down. The only things visible to Puck were bubbles. Puck was up to his elbow in the water, only barely able to hold onto the tips of Kurt's fingers.

Knowing Kurt would slip away if Puck started pulling, he sunk his other arm into the water and took hold of Kurt's hand, then was able to reposition his other hand and begin pulling Kurt up. He felt Kurt's other hand scramble to hold on to Puck's arm. The water was so cold it hurt, and Puck couldn't imagine how much worse it must be to Kurt.

Puck got Kurt halfway above water, coughing and spluttering and shivering violently. The ice he was kneeling on groaned, and Puck's heart pounded in fear. His arms were going numb, the water clinging to them freezing in the open air. He heaved one last time and got Kurt completely above the water, pulling and dragging them both back frantically, falling into the snow covered bank before the ice could crack under their combined weight.

"Kurt! Kurt, can you move? Can you—I don't even know, can you even hear me?" Puck shouted hopelessly. He thought of various movie scenarios and, however unlikely they seemed to be, the images of people freezing solid just scared him more. Kurt's arms were stiff and bent at his sides, and he was shivering so hard Puck thought he would break, but he opened his eyes and reached out, grabbing Puck and holding on tight. He was gasping for breath and he looked like he was going to pass out.

"P-P-Puck, I…" Kurt managed to stutter out between shortened breaths. He clung to Puck, but still didn't seem able to catch his breath.

"Just calm down, Kurt, it's gonna be alright," Puck said. He tried to get Kurt to take deep breaths. He knew enough to know that Kurt was panicking, and he didn't want him to hyperventilate. Knowing it might not do much in the end Puck shrugged out of his coat and wrapped it around Kurt, then picked him up and started carrying him back towards his truck as quickly as he could. He looked down when he heard Kurt wheezing and felt his heart sink in fear when he saw Kurt's blue-tinted skin and how purple his lips and eyelids were.

He ran as quickly as he could back to his truck, making a split second decision to just drive Kurt to the nearby hospital rather than wait for an ambulance to reach the restaurant he was still parked outside of.

When he reached the truck he opened the door and set Kurt inside, then ran around, got in, and blasted the heater, pointing all of the vents at Kurt's trembling body. He knew that if he could drive fast enough he could get Kurt to the hospital in less than seven minutes.

After just a few minutes, though, he noticed that Kurt seemed to be doing much better. He had stopped wheezing and was now managing to breathe relatively easily. He was leaning closer to the heaters, his eyes closed and his arms wrapped around himself. Puck's own arms had warmed up considerably also.

"Kurt?" Puck asked. "How ya doing?"

Kurt shivered and grunted, then turned to Puck and said, "I think it's okay. I mean, I think I'm warming up okay. I f-feel okay. Are we going home? I want to go home."

"We're going to the hospital. It's closer than your house anyway."

Kurt seemed to accept that and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes again. After a moment he sat up, slowly took off Puck's coat and his own, then, shivering, replaced it with just Puck's, letting his drenched, icy coat fall to the floor of the truck.

"Don't fall asleep, okay?" Puck said worriedly.

Kurt smiled a little and said, "I think that's for concussions, Noah."

"Oh. Well what's for falling through ice?"

"I don't know. I think I remember reading something about warm water baths once, but that's if you're at home."

"Well we're here anyway. So just… stay awake," Puck said again.

"I will, don't worry."

They pulled into the hospital parking area and parked outside the doors. Puck got out and went around to the passenger door to get Kurt, but Kurt already had the door open and was getting out himself. When he stumbled on the first step though, Puck picked him up, ignoring his protests that he could walk by himself.

Puck carried him through the automatic hospital doors and into the waiting room. He sat Kurt gently in a plastic chair and went to talk to the lady at the desk. After telling her their names and explaining what had happened, the nurse looked at Kurt, shivering and huddled in the cool room, and told them to come into the back. She guided them through a hallway and into a small room with a bed and told them she'd be right back. Puck situated Kurt on the mattress and they waited.

She returned shortly with a large blanket and a bundle in her arms. "Here's something to change into, I'll leave so you can do that and come back to help you with the blankets." She turned to Puck and said, "I brought you a new change too, your shirt is wet."

"Uh, thanks." His arms were getting cold again though, so he was grateful she'd noticed. When she left Puck helped Kurt change. He was shivering more as his skin was exposed to air, so Puck tried to get Kurt into the new clothes as quickly as he could. Once they were done he helped Kurt get under the blankets on the bed, and the nurse came back in, dragging a cart with various machines on it.

"Alright, sweetie, I need to get your vitals and then we can get you warm again." The nurse bustled around quickly, sometimes writing on a notepad, and another orderly entered the room with more blankets. Once the nurse was done they both covered Kurt in the blankets and made sure he was mostly covered. "The doctor will be in as soon as possible. This is the emergency center though, so it could be a few hours."

"This isn't an emergency?" Puck said incredulously.

"He's not showing signs of hypothermia and his vitals are normal. We do like to keep patients in this type of situation at least forty-eight hours, but the doctor will tell you more about that. The most we can do right now is warm him back up. I'll check in periodically if the doctor hasn't made it yet to make sure his temperature is going back up to normal, but unless either of you have another injury then this is all we can do," the nurse said patiently.

Puck sighed angrily and nodded.

The nurse made to leave but turned back suddenly, seeming to remember something.

"How old are you two?" she asked.

"He's sixteen, I'm seventeen," Puck answered.

"Okay, is there a parent or guardian I can contact? Otherwise I'll need you to fill out some forms while you wait," she said.

"Puck, you can call my dad, right?" Kurt asked quietly from the bed.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that now." Puck got out his phone and dialed, talking softly into the phone when Burt answered. He told him that everything was alright, but that they were in the hospital. Kurt could hear Burt's worried exclamations from across the room and winced.

"There goes any chance of us ever going anywhere ever again," he said weakly when Puck hung up.

"He's gonna kill me," Puck mumbled. Once the nurse left he went and sat next to Kurt on the bed, then when Kurt shifted over a bit, laid down next to him over the covers, putting an arm around him so they were facing each other on their sides.

"Are you feeling okay?" Puck asked. Kurt looked troubled. He was still pale, but the blue tinge was gone and there was a flush on his cheeks, so Puck didn't think he was too cold anymore.

"Yeah," Kurt whispered. "I just… God, it was horrible."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Puck figured he probably sounded like a girl or a shrink or something, but if it got that scared look off Kurt's face then he figured it was okay.

"I don't know," Kurt replied. After a pause he continued, "It was… really cold, at first. Obviously. And then I didn't really feel anything except really scared. It was really hard not to breathe in water. My eyes were open at first and it was dark and everything looked weird, but then it hurt so I closed them. I saw you holding onto me though, and I tried to grab you. You got me though."

"I've always got you."

Kurt smiled. "You're such a sap. The guys never believe me but you are."

"'Cause I've drilled my badassness into their heads," Puck said proudly.

"Uh huh. Whatever you say."

"Exactly."

Kurt rolled his eyes and continued from before they'd gotten off topic, "When you pulled me out I thought I was going to die. It felt even colder than being in the water did. It was weird. So cold it burned, almost." He shivered and moved closer to Puck.

"You're okay now, though."

"Yeah. Much warmer," Kurt said, scooting even closer and closing his eyes. "Very tired though. You think it's safe to sleep now?" he teased.

Puck huffed out a laugh and said, "Yeah. I'll wake you up when your dad gets here."

Kurt hummed and burrowed further into the blankets and closer to Puck, resting his head against his chest. Puck pulled him close with his arm and rubbed his back for a long time, not stopping even after he fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's all, folks. Thank you all for the very nice reviews, I was very pleased to see that all of you were riled up after the cliffhanger. Anon reviewers, I can't respond to you personally, so just know that I very much appreciate the reviews! Depending on the response this story gets (which means reviews, winkwink) I may put up some more fics. We'll see. How about you tell me what you'd like to see in a review, hmm? ;)<strong>

**Constructive criticism is always welcome, thanks for reading, and I do not own **_**Glee**_**.**


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